I have brake rotors # 5419 from car quest. I think these are monte carlo rotors. Looking at the parts there ir a bushing the shape of a T that must be heated to install on the spindle so the bearing can ride on the bushing to hold up the back of the rotor. It is obvious that the bushings were made as kits were sold for the tbird . My question does anyone know if there is a bearing that will fit into the rotor and rest on the spindle without having the bushing . Take the T and lay it on its side with top of T to the left  and that is what it looks like on the spindle. Bearing rests on the lower part of the T. If there isnt a bearing to fit can I get new rotors with a bearing that will fit without heating the parts and use the calipers I have? I just prefer to have it without the bushings . The less parts the better. Thanks

David in NC

The rotor for a '68 Mustang (11.29 OD) has the same bearings and seal size - so does the '69 Country Squire. This doesn't mean those rotors will fit your aftermarket calipers and brackets - or have the proper track - or fit your wheels - but its a start.

I've seen a 55 Bird with the wagon rotors that worked very well - but I don't know the details of the brackets and calipers. They may have just swapped in the whole knuckle. A "rear steer" Ford knuckle with a "small pin" upper taper and a "large pin" lower will mount on the T-Bird ball joints.

                               Steve Metzger               Tucson, Arizona

My money says, either live with the spacers (perfectly acceptable) or switch to Grenada type spindles/brakes.

And that's just my 2 cents.

Brodie

Savannah, GA

Rob

I love the smell of burning rubber in the morning!

So I found the '78 Monte Carlo rotor you speak of - and it takes the same identical A2 & A6 bearings as the Fords - but the OD is only 10.5 and the seal ID doesn't match the seal surface of the Ford spindle. And I'd guess the center to center spacing of the bearings is narrower too.....so they fixed the two problems with a spacer that runs with the GM seal and moves the rotor over where it matches the caliper hanger. Are the rotor castings redrilled for the Ford bolt pattern? or did they just drill blanks at the 5 on 4.5 pattern?

If all they did was make a spacer to solidly hold the inner bearing a specific distance away from the big end stop of the spindle - then the only difference in operating strength is the possible narrowing of the two bearing centers. When you first wrote in - it sounded like the inner bearing was going to sit on a sleeve and carry weight - which is bad - but set on the shaft and bearing back against a spacer won't be a big deal. Just don't heat them over 300° when you warm them up to put them on.

The GM "metric" calipers that match this rotor are popular dirt track racer parts and you can get them in aluminum (to reduce unsprung weight), fancy heat resistant lining compounds, and also with big 2.75 bore pistons for more clamping force when used without power assist. One good thing to look forward to in the future - these 10.50 rotors are about 1/2 to 1/3 the price of the Ford parts ($35 for a Monte Carlo rotor). 

                               Steve Metzger               Tucson, Arizona